Sacroiliac Joint Injections(SI) are commonly used to determine what is causing back pain. SI joint injections are primarily diagnostic injections, meaning that they help your doctor determine the cause of your back pain but may not provide you with any long-term relief from the pain. These injections eliminate pain temporarily by filling the SI joint with an anesthetic medication that numbs the joint, the ligaments, and joint capsule around the SI joint. If the SI joint is injected and your pain goes away for several hours, then it is very likely that the joint is causing your pain. Once you and your doctor know what structure is causing your pain, you can begin to explore options for treating the condition.

Lumbar Spine Anatomy and Lower Back Pain

At the lower end of the spine, just below the lumbar spine lies the sacrum. The sacrum is a triangular-shaped bone that is actually formed by the fusion of several vertebrae during development. The sacroiliac (SI) joint sits between the sacrum and the iliac bone (also called the ilium.) This is why it is called the sacroiliac joint. You can see these joints from the outside as two small dimples on each side of the lower back at the belt line.

The SI joint is one of the larger joints in the body. The surface of the joint is wavy and fits together similar to the way two gears fit together. Very little motion occurs in the SI joint. The motion that does occur is a combination of sliding, tilting and rotation. The most the joint moves in sliding is probably only a couple of millimeters, and it may tilt and rotate two or three degrees.

The SI joint is held together by several large, very strong ligaments. The strongest ligaments are in the back of the joint outside of the pelvis. Because the pelvis is a ring, these ligaments work somewhat like the hoops that hold a barrel together. If these ligaments are torn, the pelvis can become unstable. This sometimes happens when a fracture of the pelvis occurs and the ligaments are damaged. Generally, these ligaments are so strong that they are not completely torn with the usual injury to the SI joint.

Sacroiliac(SI) Joint Injections Procedure Information

When you are ready to have the injection, you will be taken into the procedure area and an IV will be started. The IV allows our medical professionals or doctor to give you any medications that may be needed during the procedure. The IV is for your safety because it allows a very rapid response if you have a problem during the procedure, such as an allergic reaction to any of the medications injected. If you are in pain or anxious, you may also be given medications through the IV for sedation during the procedure.

SI joint injections are done with the help of fluoroscopic guidance. The fluoroscope is an x-ray machine that allows our doctors to actually see an x-ray image while doing the procedure. This allows our doctors to watch where the needle goes as it is inserted. This makes the injection much safer and much more accurate. Once the needle is in the right location, a small amount of radiographic dye is injected. This liquid dye shows up on the x-ray image, displaying where the anesthetic medication and the cortisone will go. Our doctors want to make sure the injection will put the medication where it can do the most good. Once the correct position is confirmed, the anesthetic and cortisone are injected, and the needle is removed.